determiners and pronouns

Question 1

exact (!) word class of determiners

Answer 1

• central determiners => definite, indefinite, zero article (the, a, this etc.)
• predeterminers (half, all, both, twice etc.)
• postdeterminers (seven, many, few etc.)

Question 2

use of the definite article

Answer 2

• usually definite/specific reference
• generic reference with musical instruments/dance (she plays THE harp)
• generic reference with plural nouns: national/ethnic groups, adjective head with human reference (the Chinese, the unemployed)

Question 3

use of the indefinite article

Answer 3

nonreferring uses => descriptive rather than referring role

Question 4

use of the zero article

Answer 4

• expressing the generic
  plural common count nouns: Cows are…
  abstract noncount nouns: She studies dance
  concrete noncount nouns with sg meaning: Iron is useful
  abstract noncount nouns: Tme will show
  collective nouns: man, youth, society
• unique role or task: Maureen is captain of the team
• institutional usage: Council will consider this in due course.
• quasi-locatives: be in/go to town, bed, church
• transport and communication: by bicycle, bus, train etc.
• time expressions: at dawn, daybreak etc.
• meals

Question 5

articles with proper names

Answer 5

definite article:
- titular names of persons and deities: the King of Sweden
- geographical names of plural form: the Bahamas
- names of rivers, canals, expanses of water, area: the Thames
- geographical names with the pattern the n of n: the Isle of Man
- theatres, galleries, major buildings: the Globe, the Taj Mahal
- ships: the Titanic
- journals, newspapers: the New York Times

no article (≠ ø-article):
- forenames and surnames: Frank (<-> the unlucky Frank)
- place names: Munich (<-> the Munich of 1933)

Question 6

classes of pronouns/determiners

Answer 6

• central: personal/ reflexive/ possessive
• relative: who, whom, whose, which, that, Ø (zero-)
• interrogative: who?, whom?, whose?, which?, what?
• demonstrative: this, these, that, those
• indefinite (=non-specific)
  => positive vs negative
  => positive: universal, assertive, non-assertive

meaning:
- negative: negates completely or almost completely that a person or thing exists or that s.th. is true or valid for a person or thing
no, none, neither of the two, little, few
- assertive: indicates that a person or thing exists or that s.th. is true or valid for a person or thing
some + compounds
- non-assertive: leaves it open whether a person or thing exists or whether s.th. is true or valid for a person or thing
any + compounds

Question 7

reference of reflexive pronouns

Answer 7

• coreferential He and his wife poured themselves a drink
• partially coreferential: I could make us an omelette

Question 8

what form is himself here?
“Rembrand himself has worked on that paining.”

Answer 8

emphatic form
≠ reflexive pronoun!

Question 9

wordclass of compounds of any and some

Answer 9

• indefinite pronoun: Tell me something about you. I cannot think of anyone who would be interested in this.
• indefinite compound adverb: some-/anywhere, somehow, somewhat, sometimes